Cigarette making machine

ABSTRACT

A hand-operated cigarette making machine is disclosed. The machine consists of one lever for moving a tobacco compacting member into tobacco compacting position while at the same time moving a retaining lever to retain a cigarette tube on a nipple through which the tobacco wad is injected. A second layer including a spoon is provided for displacing the tobacco wad from the machine into a cigarette tube.

United States Patent Kastner [4 Sept. 26, 1972 CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINE FOREIGN PATENTS R APPLICATIONS [72] inventor: Arnold Kastner, 10220 Armond 447,878 4/ 1948 Canada ..131/70 1 Lavergne, Montreal 460, Canada 448,370 5/1948 Canada ..131/70 [22] Filed: Nov. 23, 1970 464,948 4/ 1937 Great Britain ..131/70 [21] Appl. No.: 92,060 Primary Examiner-Samuel Koren Assistant Examiner-J. F. Pitrelli Attorney-George F. Dvorak, Stephen T. Skrydlak 1 Foreign Application Priority Data and Maiden s Gordon M 11,1970 C d ..O8

ay a 1 a a 3.4 3 57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl ..131/ A hand-operated cigarette making machine is dis- [51] int. Cl. ..A24c 05/42 closed. The machine consists of one lever for moving 58 Field of Search ..131/70, a tobacco compacting member into tobacco p ing position while at the same time moving a retaining [56] References Cited lever to retain a cigarette tube on a nipple through which the tobacco wad is injected. A second layer in- UNITED STATES PATENTS cluding a spoon is provided for displacing the tobacco h 11 t b 3,124,141 3/1964 Seitter ..131/70 'adfmmthe mac me'mac'gm e Reisman 107/ l 4 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEP26 1972 SHEEI 2 [IF 2 CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINE The present invention relates to cigarette making machines and particularly to hand-operated machines of the do-it-yourself variety which inject a cylindrical wad of compacted tobacco into a prefabricated cigarette paper tube.

Cigarette making machines of this variety are now available on the market but the known makes are of the more expensive variety and their initial higher cost deters their purchase by individuals who would otherwise prefer to make their own cigarettes. Home-made cigarettes using prefabricated paper tubes and bulk tobacco and a domestic cigarette making machine are preferred by many not only for their lower cost but also because of their pleasant and unique taste. As a result, there has long been a need for a low cost domestic machine which is efficient in operation and durable in construction having few moving parts and which will satisfy the requirements of those preferring to' make their own cigarettes at home.

The apparatus of the present invention satisfies these requirements and will now be more specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the machine according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the machine shown in FIG. 1 but having the top cover plate removed to show constructional components;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view as in FIG. 2 and showing the tobacco compacting member in compacting position;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view along line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and I FIG. 5 is an end view of the machine seen when viewed from the right in FIG. 3.

CONSTRUCTION The drawings will now be discussed in more detail. In FIG. 1, the top plate is indicated at 2, and a tobacco receiving aperture is provided at 4 in the top plate. The end of a lever 6 for the closing and opening of a tobacco compacting chamber and also for the operation of a tube retaining member 8 is shown; along with a handle 10 for displacing tobacco from the machine into a cigarette tube (see broken lines in FIG. 3) positioned on the cigarette tube-receiving nipple 12.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are top view of the machine with the top plate 2 removed for a better understanding. In these drawings a bottom plate 14 on which the component parts are mounted is shown. On end of lever 6 is pivotally mounted on plate 14 at 16, with the other end of the lever projecting through a slot 18 (see FIG. 5), provided in end wall 20.

A tobacco compacting component consists of a plate 22 mounted for sliding movement on bottom plate 14 and a tobacco compacting member 24 secured to the plate 22. Sliding movement of the tobacco compacting component is guided by upraised flange 26 and by guide plate 28, both of which are fixedly secured to plate 14.

The sliding plate 22 is formed with two upstanding flanges 30 and 32, which engage alternate sides of lever 6, and it will be appreciated that movement of lever 6 in the direction of arrow 34 in FIG. 2 will move the tobacco compacting component from the tobacco receiving position shown in FIG. 2 to a tobacco compacting position in FIGS. 3 and 5. Spring 36 normally will act to hold the tobacco compacting component in an open position, but lever 6 can be moved to recessed notch 38 (FIG. 5) provided adjacent slot in end wall 20 to hold the tobacco compacting component in compacting position (see FIGS. 3 and 5) and free the user's hand for operation of handle 10 to be described hereafter.

The provision of spring 36 is not absolutely necessary for a successful operation of the machine but it is to be preferred.

Handle 10 is secured to tobacco filling spoon 40 by shaft 42 which provides a shoulder 44 and is movable longitudinally within the machine as shown by arrow 46 in FIG. 2 and normal to the direction of movement of the tobacco compacting member 24, to displace tobacco compacted thereagainst in the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 to a' position (not shown in the drawings) where the spoon 40 carrying a tobacco wad enters a tube positioned on the nipple 12. (see FIG. 3).

A tube retaining member 8 is positioned adjacent the nipple 12 to hold a cigarette tube on the nipple during injection of a tobacco wad by spoon 40. The retaining member 8 (which may be of a rubber or plastic resilient composition to bear frictionally against a tube 48 (FIG. 3) positioned on nipple 12) is mounted on the end of a lever 50 which is slideable longitudinally within restraining flanges 26 and 52 secured to plate 14. The end of lever 50 remote from end 8 is formed as an inverted U-shaped in longitudinal cross-section (not shown in the drawings) to engage over lever 6, and with this construction it will be appreciated that movement of lever 6 will result in movement of restraining member 8 from the position shown in FIG. 2 to a tube retaining position against nipple 12 as shown in FIG. 3. As an alternative to the inverted U-shaped cross-section of the lever 50, a compression spring (not shown in the drawings) in coil or of generally L-shape could be provided between lever 50 and lever 6 with equally good results.

As will be seen from FIG. 4, the spoon 40 is arcuate in cross-section and the leading side of tobacco compacting member is concave in transverse cross-section whereby tobacco compacted therebetween (in space 54 in FIG. 4) will assume the form of a cylindrical wad.

The machine may be constructed from any suitable materials such as metal or plastic, and if desired the compacting components, the spoon 40 and the tobacco compacting member 24, may be coated on their tobacco contacting surfaces with a non-gumming substance such as TEFLON (a registered trade mark of E. l. du- Pont) to prevent gumming of these surfaces by the resins and tar in the tobacco.

In addition, the machine may be employed as a highly portable hand model, or it may be secured to a base.

OPERATION When one wishes to prepare a cigarette the handles 6 & 10 are positioned as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and a quantity of tobacco suitable for one cigarette is placed on lower plate 14 through aperture 4 in top plate 2. A cigarette tube (see FIG. 3) is then placed on nipple l2, and lever 6 is moved to the position shown in FIG. 3 and is placed in recess 38 to hold the lever against the action of spring 36. The movement of lever 6 results in (1) moving tobacco compacting member 24 to compact the tobacco charge against spoon 40 and (2) moving tube retaining member 8 against the tube positioned on nipple 12. Handle 10 is then moved to the left in the direction of arrow 46 in FIG. 2 whereby the spoon 40 and shoulder 44 inject the tobacco wad into the tube. The spoon is then withdrawn from the tube and the lever 6 returned to the start position and the finished cigarette removed from nipple 12.

It will be appreciated that the handle 10 which is attached to the spoon 40 may take the form of an elongated handle 10' which is positioned axially with regard to spoon 40 without departing from the scope of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A hand-operated cigarette making machine including a casing consisting of upper and lower plates and a cigarette tube receiving nipple, a tobacco compacting chamber, the tube receiving nipple being positioned in alignment with the tobacco compacting chamber, a tobacco injecting spoon movable with respect to the casing to inject a wad of tobacco compacted against the spoon into a cigarette tube positioned on the nipple, a handle secured to the spoon, a tube retaining member mountedadjacent the nipple, a

lever pivotally attached to the iower plate and connected to a tobacco compacting member and to the tube retaining member, the tobacco compacting member being carried on a sliding plate with the sliding plate having two spaced apart upstanding flanges to receive the lever therebetween, movement of the lever moving the tobacco compacting member towards the spoon to compact therebetween a supply of tobacco placed in the tobacco compacting chamber through an aperture provided in the upper plate, and moving the tube retaining member into contact with the cigarette tube positioned on the said nipple.

2. Machine according to claim 1 further comprising a spring connected between the lower plate and the tobacco compacting member to normally hold the compacting member in open position.

3. Machine according to claim 2 further including means to maintain the lever and tobacco compacting member in tobacco compacting position.

4. Machine according to claim 1 wherein the tube retaining member is connected to the said lever by a compression spring.

5. Machine according to claim 1 wherein the portion of the tube retaining member contacting the said nipple is covered with a resilient covering.

6. Machine according to claim 1, wherein portions of the said tobacco compacting member and the said spoon which contact the tobacco are coated with TEFLON. 

1. A hand-operated cigarette making machine including a casing consisting of upper and lower plates and a cigarette tube receiving nipple, a tobacco compacting chamber, the tube receiving nipple being positioned in alignment with the tobacco compacting chamber, a tobacco injecting spoon movable with respect to the casing to inject a wad of tobacco compacted against the spoon into a cigarette tube positioned on the nipple, a handle secured to the spoon, a tube retaining member mounted adjacent the nipple, a lever pivotally attached to the lower plate and connected to a tobacco compacting member and to the tube retaining member, the tobacco compacting member being carried on a sliding plate with the sliding plate having two spaced apart upstanding flanges to receive the lever therebetween, movement of the lever moving the tobacco compacting member towards the spoon to compact therebetween a supply of tobacco placed in the tobacco compacting chamber through an aperture provided in the upper plate, and moving the tube retaining member into contact with the cigarette tube positioned on the said nipple.
 2. Machine according to claim 1 further comprising a spring connected between the lower plate and the tobacco compacting member to normally hold the compacting member in open position.
 3. Machine according to claim 2 further including means to maintain the lever and tobacco compacting member in tobacco compacting position.
 4. Machine according to claim 1 wherein the tube retaining member is connected to the said lever by a compression spring.
 5. Machine according to claim 1 wherein the portion of the tube retaining member contacting the said nipple is covered with a resilient covering.
 6. Machine according to claim 1, wherein portions of the said tobacco compacting member and the said spoon which contact the tobacco are coated with TEFLON. 